Paulk: NASCAR should consider adding road course to Chase

Auto Racing Videos

Email Newsletters

Traveling by Jeep, boat and foot, Tribune-Review investigative reporter Carl Prine and photojournalist Justin Merriman covered nearly 2,000 miles over two months along the border with Mexico to report on coyotes — the human traffickers who bring illegal immigrants into the United States. Most are Americans working for money and/or drugs. This series reports how their operations have a major impact on life for residents and the environment along the border — and beyond.

For years, there has been a great deal of talk about the dwindling importance of short tracks on the NASCAR circuit. Some have suggested cutting back the number of races at the very venues that helped make the sport.

It's inconceivable that NASCAR officials would consider eliminating races at Martinsville, Bristol and Richmond. Yet, in 2007, some seriously considered eliminating Martinsville from the Sprint Cup schedule — or at least one of its two races.

That, of course, would be a mistake. The Cup series needs the short tracks to ensure the drivers' skills are tested from week to week.

What NASCAR needs to do is find a way to add more road course races on the 36-race schedule, especially during the Chase. So far, NASCAR president Mike Helton has shown little interest in adding Watkins Glen or Sonoma to the postseason schedule.

It seems to me that all venue types — short tracks, intermediate, super speedways and road courses — should be a part of the championship mix. If nothing else, those advancing to the Chase will have to give the new playoff format their undivided attention.

There's little doubt that if the Chase races were evenly distributed during the postseason that four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon would be a heavy favorite to dethrone Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson.

Gordon returns to Sonoma Raceway on Sunday with the most impressive road-course resume of any active driver. He has a record five wins at Sonoma — three better than the four others with two, including three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart.

“It's been a little while since we won out here, so I feel like you constantly always have to challenge yourself and just push the limits of your car,” said Gordon, who leads the series in points. “Yet, here at Sonoma, you have to be very careful not to overdrive it off course as well.

“We've got a really good car — very happy, but I know that we have to make it better. In order to do that, I have to recognize the areas that we need to improve the car and try to articulate that to the team.”

Gordon, a California native, feels right at home at Sonoma. He has won the pole five times and rarely finishes outside the top 10.

“Even my truck driver was saying that the truck parade that was last night in Sacramento, he saw (No.) 24 hats everywhere,” said Gordon, who pilots the No. 24 Chevrolet. “Of course, the success we've had out here helps to contribute to that.”

Stewart, still in pursuit of an elusive win that could lock him into the playoffs, has five wins at Watkins Glen, and Gordon has four. In 216 career starts, Australian Marcos Ambrose has two wins — all at Watkins Glen ± meaning his best shot to advance past the 26-race regular season is to win at one of the two road courses.

Clearly, NASCAR officials aren't about to change the Chase schedule to accommodate drivers who perform well on road courses. Then again, significant changes were made to the Chase format to indicate perhaps officials aren't as rigid in their efforts to cling to tradition.

Gordon said he thinks a road course should be added to the Chase because it's a different style of racing.

“You're bouncing off curbs,” he said. “It's sort of like controlling something that's completely out of control, is how I like to describe it on a road course because it's pretty amazing that we throw these big heavy cars with so much power around at a track like this and yet keep it on the course.”

TribLive commenting policy

You are solely responsible for your comments and by using TribLive.com you agree to our Terms of Service.

We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership. By screening submissions, we provide a space where readers can share intelligent and informed commentary that enhances the quality of our news and information.

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderating decisions are subjective. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. Because of the volume of reader comments, we cannot review individual moderation decisions with readers.

We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely. We make an effort to protect discussions from repeated comments  either by the same reader or different readers.

We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. A few things we won't tolerate: personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, proselytizing and SHOUTING. Don't include URLs to Web sites.

We do not edit comments. They are either approved or deleted. We reserve the right to edit a comment that is quoted or excerpted in an article. In this case, we may fix spelling and punctuation.

We welcome strong opinions and criticism of our work, but we don't want comments to become bogged down with discussions of our policies and we will moderate accordingly.

We appreciate it when readers and people quoted in articles or blog posts point out errors of fact or emphasis and will investigate all assertions. But these suggestions should be sent via e-mail. To avoid distracting other readers, we won't publish comments that suggest a correction. Instead, corrections will be made in a blog post or in an article.

Total Promotional Solutions

A division of Trib Total Media is your one-stop-shop for all of your branded merchandise needs.

We specialize in providing quality affordable promotional products for every type of business including non-profits, schools, universities, sports teams and more. With 1000’s of products to choose from, our knowledgeable staff can help you find the perfect apparel item or product to suit your needs and budget.

Digital Sales

We offer a wide variety of traditional and new digital advertising options customized to fit your needs!

Whether you're just starting out, or you've been a keystone in the community for years, our knowledgeable staff can provide you with a customized package including online banners/advertisements, Social Media Marketing (Facebook / Twitter), Website development, Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing solutions and much more!

Contact your local sales rep today for details, personalized proposal and a meeting to discuss how we can meet your needs.